Missouri AG Targets Suspected Loan Modification Rackets In Three Unrelated Civil Suits Alleging Collection Of Upfront Fees, Failure To Perform Promised Services, Unauthorized Practice Of Law

From the Office of the Missouri Attorney General:

• Attorney General Chris Koster [] filed three separate lawsuits against individuals and their companies for misleading Missouri consumers in connection with mortgage-modification services.
  
  The lawsuits were filed against Colleen Kelly, a Missouri resident operating Heartland Loss Mitigation, LLC,; Eric Mader, a Florida attorney operating Mader Law Group, LLC, a Florida company; and Jim Caplan, a Florida attorney operating CAPLAW, P.A., a Florida company.

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• The lawsuits allege that these companies engaged in multiple deceptive or unfair practices, including:
  
  Requiring and receiving advance payment for loan-modification services;
  
  Failing to provide the loan-modification services paid for by consumers in those advance fees;
  
  Failing to refund consumers for loan-modification services not received;
  
  Persuading consumers to cease mortgage payments to their lenders by promising successful loan modifications;
  
  Failing to place legally required notifications of homeowners’ rights in contracts between defendants and those homeowners; and
  
  Engaging in the unauthorized practice of law in Missouri.

For the Missouri AG press release, see Attorney General Koster announces crackdown on mortgage rescue companies for unfair practices.